The Missing Year | Highlights of 2016 | Kelly Pendragon

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Kelly Wheelhouse
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I vaguely remember writing my last blog post back on 4th January 2016 all about my New Year plans and hoped from then to keep writing my blog on a regular basis as I loved writing about my life, places I'd been, things I'd experienced, etc. However only a few days after publishing the last post my life got turned completely upside down. Breakups are hard, but what I went through was so much worse than that. However I'm not here to talk about that, this post is more an update of what's happened over the last year of my life. I've done so much this last year that I've had to use my Facebook as a reference. I hope you enjoy the highlights of my year!

January: Got a new tattoo

The first thing that happened since I wrote that last blog post was got a new tattoo. It was completely fresh when this was taken, it doesn't look anywhere near as bold now it's healed. I'd wanted this tattoo for a long time, but never got around to having it done. This was my first impulse buy as a single woman. To me it symbolises freedom- me spreading my wings and flying away from the bad things in my past.When I'm having a low day it reminds me to stay strong and it's my favourite tattoo of the three I currently have. I am planning my next tattoo for 2017 and hope to have it done in the spring.

February: I found my happiness

The cat isn't how I found my happiness, he isn't even my cat, but it's the only picture I have from February and I look rather happy here. This was the month when my boyfriend and I started a relationship together. I was an emotional wreck before meeting him, but he pulled me through my hardest time and showed me what true love really means.

April: Seaside galore

Back in April, I ended up going to Skegness twice. Once at the beginning of the month and once at the end. Both visits were great, but the second one stands out in my mind the most as we did so many different things in the space of a day. We went on the beach, wandered the shops, visited an aquarium, went to a farm park, wandered around Ingoldmells. It was a day filled with fun, laughter, and lots of photos (I must have taken over 1,000 pictures that day)

May: Countryside walks

From walks through my local countryside behind my town, to the absolutely stunning walks I took through Hougham and Marston- I had some great long treks in the month of May. Through fields of rapeseed, to a hidden bird hide where we saw some pretty water birds, and to a railroad crossing where I got excitingly close to high-speed trains. I remember jumping up and down with glee after I got this shot. The feeling of adrenaline as a train passes you at arm's length traveling at nearly 100 miles per hour is brilliant!

June: I got a kitten!

I've always been a cat person growing up, I had a family cat from a young age and always wished to have one of my own once I moved into my own place. One day in June I was scrolling through Facebook looking at pets for sale and after seeing a few cuties I came across this little guy. However, he was more money than my boyfriend and I wanted to spend on a kitty so I sighed and scrolled on. Later that day my boyfriend found the same post and told me how he really wanted this kitty no matter what the cost and it was then I knew he was to be our new little family member. Somehow no one else had asked for him in the meantime and so I got in touch with the seller and he was ours to take home! He's a Bengal Manx cross- although his personality is more Bengal than Manx. We decided to name him Billy (based on an inside joke from our trip to Skegness, the name had real meaning to us).
Billy is now around 9 months old and looks like this

August: Family holiday

In August I went on holiday with my family to one of my favourite places ever- North Wales. We stayed in a gorgeous seaside town called Prestatyn where I witnessed the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets of my whole life. Over the duration of the holiday we visited Llandudno, a zoo, we saw a free air display, went to Anglesey and visited Anglesey Sea Zoo, visited castles, and even went to Blackpool on the way home.

It was my second time visiting Blackpool and I went on the tower once again. I had a really fab time and it was the best end to the holiday I could have ever asked for.

September: New camera

In September I finally got the camera of my dreams! The Nikon D3300 DSLR camera. It's so strange to start using for someone used to digital or compact system cameras as it seems very manual and almost feels old-fashioned. But the results I've managed to achieve from this camera are stunning! I also bought a nice big lens for it as well so next spring and summer I can hopefully get some great photos of wildlife on my long countryside walks. These two photos were some of the first I took, so they were testers more than anything, but they show what can be achieved by someone who hasn't got much of an idea how to get the most out of the camera.

November: Fireworks

Late last year I remember purchasing a couple of packs of fireworks to set off for new years, but we never got around to it due to bad weather along with other things, so by fireworks night my brother and I decided to purchase some more packs of fireworks to make our own fabulous display! It was a lovely night with an indoor BBQ and great company of my family and some friends. My boyfriend takes credit for the lovely photo- he got some gorgeous ones of fireworks, whilst I was too busy appreciating the moment.

December: A time for joy

December has been one of my happiest months! My boyfriend celebrated his birthday early in the month and we had a lovely week off together- we took a trip to Nottingham where we did some Christmas shopping and I treated him to a Red Hot World Buffet. That week we also went to Springfield's shopping outlet and Baytree Garden Centre with my family and had an awesome day- and we stopped at The Fortescue Arms on the way home (I've mentioned it before on my blog only two posts before this).

Christmas day this year was a lovely little day filled with joy and many gifts! I was overjoyed with all the presents I got from my boyfriend, family, and friends.

I'm now ready to head into 2017 as a fresh new person, filled with happiness and living a life I could have only dreamt about. I've had a magical year and made so many memories. I do regret not blogging throughout the past year, I have missed it very dearly, but I plan to keep my blog active throughout 2017. I aim to write about my life, my journey with photography, places I travel, reviews of the odd products, maybe the occasional giveaway, and I'll most certainly be writing about my holiday next year as well.